My life is like a speeding bullet that just hasn't hit the target yet.
Kid Cudi
I just wanna learn and I wanna grow. I wanna consume as much information as possible. I wanna be great.
I like to get one pair of shoes and wear them till they're dirty. Besides, I don't walk - I glide, like butter. Float like a vampire. I'm like Louis Vuitton, but smoother. He wishes he were like me.
I'm very close with my family, so my mom is part of my entourage.
I like What Goes Around Comes Around for old concert tees. Oh man, I got this 'Sgt. Pepper' cartoon Beatles shirt there; it was, like, $300. I didn't even know how much it cost - I thought it was gonna be, like, $80 at most - till I got to the register and was like, 'Oh mah gawd!' Good Lord. But it's classic vintage rock, you know?
I'm not that big a fan of sampling. But I feel like if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it to where it's more of a reimagining of a track. The songs that I do utilize samples on, most of it you wouldn't even be able to tell what it was unless I told you.
The world that I am coming from, hip-hop, is so regurgitated and repetitive that some people are used to that and they don't want change, they don't like change. And I get that, that's cool. Luckily for me, I'm confident in myself as an artist where I can do what I want, and as long as I'm cool with it, I'm cool with it.
I've always been ahead of the curve when it came to trying new stuff in the underground scene.
In America, we're kind of lazy. But in New York, it's one of those places where you see the majority of people hustling. If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.
'Gorgeous' was one of those records that, as soon as I heard the beat, I was like, 'Man, this is the one. This is that 'This Can't Be Life' Kanye beat.'
I'm trying to change the world.
I used to take Sharpies and draw on my pillowcases, and then go to sleep on them and wake up with red marker from the drool all on my face.
There was a moment in time where I was really focused on the Navy and I followed through with it - I passed the test. I was happy with myself because I was accomplishing something and I was really working towards a goal. That was the first true thing I invested my energy in.
'Just What I Am' took me all of 10 minutes to make. 'Immortal' maybe took 30 minutes. It's not hard for me. 'Indicud' is almost what my first album should have sounded like, had I really been able to channel all of the ideas I had into music.
I have all these revelations as I'm writing. Each song is like a chapter of my diary.
I've always felt that because I'm from Cleveland, which isn't recognised as a place for hip-hop, I needed to step it up if I wanted to make myself known.
I like Louis Vuitton accessories, but I'd never wear their clothes. No offense, it's just not my steeze.
I hated suits until I wore a Calvin Klein; they just fit me.
Some people just don't want to see change, but thankfully there are a lot of people more optimistic for something new in music, even with the bigger picture like with Obama getting elected.
These things were happening in my life where I was like, 'Man, I wish my pops was here to see this.' I never had those thoughts before fame, when my life was just a regular life. I wasn't saying, 'I wish my dad could be around and see me working at Applebee's.'
My background is not typical hip-hop. I didn't grow up in the projects. I grew up in a single family home in a middle-class suburb. That doesn't mean I didn't experience hardship, but to me it's not about that, it's about the future and where we are trying to take it.
Yeah, but if you're not doing what everyone else is doing then you're going to be misunderstood. People are going to wonder why you're trying to be different; it's just a natural instinct.
The tour bus is always fun, and there's plenty of time to watch movies. Actually, Kanye introduced me to the movie 'Step Brothers.' We were sitting there, watching it and clowning around - it was so funny, man.
My whole thing is just to put out positive messages in the music, give people something that can change their lives.
Once I accomplish one thing and I'm satisfied, I try something else. I may be 50 and doing something totally outside of music and acting. Maybe I'll become a kindergarten teacher.
I like being a consumer. I'll do collabs with brands I like, only because I would like something free to wear. But I don't want people to dress like me, which is what you're asking when you create a brand. The fashion industry's just a super-duper headache.
I went out of my way to make 'Immortal' sound perfect. 'Immortal,' 'Just What I Am,' and 'King Wizard,' those are perfect beats. Not a lot of people can perform on them. I say that meaning they're tailor-made for me.
Whatever Kanye tells me, I just try to put it in my little machine and make the perfect solution for it. That's always our collab formula, and that's just how 'Gorgeous' came about.
